The Impact of The Affordable Care Act

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Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century the United States has always had a realization that there was a problem with obtaining affordable health insurance. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare, was signed into law in March 2010. This law enables people who were unable to afford healthcare the ability to obtain a healthcare plan at an affordable rate. In 2009 a survey was taken as to the amount of people in the United States that carried health insurance. In table one below you can see over 50 million people in the United States did not have any type of insurance, which is close to 17 percent of the population (see table 1 below). “According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “32% Latinos…27% Native Americans…21% African Americans… 18% Asians… lack coverage compared to 13% Whites” (Kimbrough-Melton 355). The U.S. has been trying to close the gap disparity between whites and minorities, which consist of African Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, and Asians on the issue of healthcare. Although many people are against the ACA, the healthcare system has to improve in order to make healthcare affordable for everyone. Even though people might think the ACA will impact them negatively, there are facts that prove otherwise. In this paper, I will start with a brief background on the history of endeavors made by the United States to try to make health care affordable, followed by a Massachusetts law that laid the foundation for the ACA to become established. I will then move on to present how skewed the healthcare system is and how much minorities need this law. Then I will proceed to show how people with already employer-sponsored insurance would not be affected by the ACA. In addi... ... middle of paper ... .... PsycARTICLES. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. Kominski, Gerald F. Changing the U.S. Health Care System: Key Issues in Health Services Policy and Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014. Print. Long, S. K., K. Stockley, and H. Dahlen. "Massachusetts Health Reforms: Uninsurance Remains Low, Self-Reported Health Status Improves As State Prepares To Tackle Costs." Health Affairs 31.2 (2012): 444-51. Web. Rosenbaum, Sara. "THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT: IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY AND PRACTICE." Public Health Reports (1974-) 126.1 (2011): 130-35. JSTOR. Web. 18 May 2014. . Wees, Philip J. Van Der, Alan M. Zaslavsky, and John Z. Ayanian. "Improvements in Health Status after Massachusetts Health Care Reform." Milbank Quarterly 91.4 (2013): 663-89. Web.

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